CO2 output from shipping twice as much as airlines

http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2025726,00.html

CO2 output from shipping twice as much as airlines


· Maritime emissions not covered by Kyoto accord
· Studies suggest 75% rise in 15 years as trade grows

John Vidal, environment editor
Saturday March 3, 2007
The Guardian

90% of the world’s goods are carried by sea and world trade is increasing all the time. Photograph: Macduff Everton/Corbis

Carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are double those of aviation and increasing at an alarming rate which will have a serious impact on global warming, according to research by the industry and European academics.

Separate studies suggest that maritime carbon dioxide emissions are not only higher than previously thought, but could rise by as much as 75% in the next 15 to 20 years if world trade continues to grow and no action is taken. The figures from the oil giant BP, which owns 50 tankers, and researchers at the Institute for Physics and Atmosphere in Wessling, Germany reveal that annual emissions from shipping range between 600 and 800m tonnes of carbon dioxide, or up to 5% of the global total. This is nearly double Britain's total emissions and more than all African countries combined.


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Sail Transport Network



also see Kiteships http://www.kiteship.com/


http://www.energybulletin.net/19396.html

I am afraid I don't know much about sailing ships just that at one point Freeport, ME had more millionaires than anywhere else in America because that is where so many clippership captains lived.

A quick check on the Emma Maersk, one of the largest container ships shows a net capacity of over 55,000 tons (14,000 14 ton containers) on a gross tonnage of approx. 171,000 tons. With a operating crew of 13.

Tall ship crews are running three times that. And yet have only a tiny fraction of the cargo capacity. Even trying to construct a much larger steel sailing vessel you would be looking at a much larger crew and around half the cruising speed. Your labor cost per pound of cargo transported would likely increase 10 fold or more.

Coffee, tea, spices, out of season fruit and vegetables the rest will once again be luxury items only affordable to the wealthy.

They will certainly be luxury items if the only mode of sea transport is by sail. Fresh fruit and vegetables brought in by ship will probably not be available at any price. They are only available now due to cheap oil and efficient transport. Historically one had to live on what was available locally and what local produce had been stored locally.

On edit IMHO :D

and then is totally gone.

What's the emission per payload ton-mile of ships compared to aircraft? I would venture that it's a LOT lower, by at least an order of magnitude. Of course, each has its particular downside: aircraft spew their exhaust at high altitude where the greenhouse and ozone-reducing effects are greater, while ships emit more SOx and particulate pollution due to the less refined nature of their fuel.

If we really need to knit together a global industrial civilization, on balance I'm more in favour of doing it with ships than planes. Of course, re-localizing production to decrease the overall amount of transportation the world requires is the best idea. As well as reducing emissions, that would help increase the resilience and sustainability of our civilization.